The Education Law Project

The Education Law Project (ELP), directed by Professor Monica Teixeira de Sousa, supports and provides opportunities for New England Law | Boston students to become involved in education law and policy work outside of the classroom and to expand their knowledge of the field.

McKinney-Vento Project (MVP)

The McKinney-Vento Act addresses the rights of homeless children to schooling. Under the MVP, Professor Teixeira de Sousa trains New England Law students to aid her efforts to provide public education to parents about the education-related rights of homeless children.

Public Education Legislation Project (PELP)

In 2012, Professor Teixeira de Sousa launched an initiative to analyze proposed legislation addressing public education. Professor Teixeira de Sousa describes the need for the project: “Education law and policy issues have become favorite topics for the media, and voters are increasingly aware of their elected officials’ views on education. However, as legislators across the country scramble to respond to constituent concerns and introduce legislation on a variety of complex and novel education issues, it remains to be seen whether many of these bills have the potential to aid children struggling at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder.”

Jeananne Russell '12 worked with Professor Teixeira de Sousa, researching a Rhode Island bill that proposes changes to the charter school enrollment process. Russell also gained a better understanding of the legislation's goals by meeting with the bill's sponsor. Russell then examined charter school enrollment policies across the country and the impact of specific selection mechanisms on at-risk student populations.